Gartner says that by 2020, 25 billion internet connected “things” will be in use worldwide as part of a multi-trillion dollar industry, ranging from the obvious things like computers, tablets and smartphones to self-driving cars and household appliances like fridges, washing machines and dishwashers. The rise in popularity of tiny, cheap devices such as the Raspberry Pi and Arduino have also smashed down the barrier to entry for innovative smaller players and bedroom coders alike. One of the key requirements for these connected devices is a link-in to bigger telecoms infrastructure, hosted in the cloud. At the forefront of innovation in this field in the UK and Europe is a Liverpool-based company called Telecoms Cloud, and their Co-founder and CEO Paul Freeman-Powell came to speak to us and explain how his telecoms network acts as an enabler for the Internet of Things, or even the “Internet of Everything”.

Me presenting to the IET on the subject of Telecoms Cloud API: Enabling the Internet of Everything

After an in-depth tour of the Telecoms Cloud Network and its impressive capabilities, Paul demonstrated the possibilities of a trigger-based event using a prototype Internet-enabled front door which sends an alert to the homeowner’s phone each time it opens/closes, with the date and time of the event. He then demonstrated on the big screen just how quick and easy it is to make inroads into the world of API-driven telecoms, coding a simple application from scratch to send a text message to an audience member’s phone at the touch of a button. A great evening was had by all and we were excited to get an insight into what lies ahead in the Internet-connected world.